Birthday - Dress Form!

My birthday is this month on April 21, and look what I found when I came home late one night from a show!

A red dress form from Michael! I've been wanting one for a long time but never spend the time to research it. I sew and construct simple costume pieces all the time, and I never realized how useful this is until now! I was sewing elastic one day and had to hold one end of the piece with my teeth and the other end with my toes so the fabric stayed stretched out, and sew with one hand. Now that I have this baby to drape and hang everything on, I won't need to be so acrobatic when I make my pieces.


This form is by Singer Model 150. It is adjustable in the bust, waist, hip, and neck area. I noticed that when I used my actual measurements on it, some of the dresses won't fit on it. That is because the dress form is stiff and does not have any give the way real bodies (ie: boobs) are.

The first thing I've been using it for is altering the straps for this Jovani dress that many of you have probably seen me wear.

The straps are quite thin and they've always bugged me. Then I saw this same dress worn on GCB and they've altered Amanda's straps with a big applique! So I hussled over to B&Q and got myself a yard. This will be one of the fabulous dresses I'm taking with me to Vegas at the end of May for Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend!

By Francine Daveta at Beatles Burlesque